Today I finished reading ‘The
Element – How finding your passion changes everything’. Before I do my first
book review, let me tell you how I came to know about Sir Ken Robinson, the
author of this book. I like to watch TED talks on Youtube. As one watches one
talk after another, more talks are suggested by youtube. One such suggestion
was ‘Do Schools Kill Creativity’. This was a TED talk given by Sir Ken Robinson
in 2006. Sir Ken Robinson is a British born Educationist who is now living in
the USA. His life work is in the area of public education.

In the book, ‘The Element’, Sir
Ken Robinson gives persuasive stories and examples of how finding ones’ passion
and pursuing the same, can catapult one to the heights of fame, or if not face,
heights of satisfaction. He gives numerous real life stories of actors, dancers,
writers, painters, musicians, entrepreneurs and even from his own life to show
how these people found their passion and excelled in their chosen field.

Most of the book is then filled
with examples like this:

XYZ was a very average child in
his school. Most of his teachers in school had written him off. Somehow someone found that this
child has a particular streak in him. He encouraged him to pursue that field of work.
The boy found it very satisfying and slowly more and more opportunities came
along the way. Finally, he turned out to be this great musician or painter or
dancer that he is today.

In this book, he defines
something called as ‘The Element’. The Element, according to him is the meeting
point of aptitude and passion. When a person is in his element, he loves what
he is doing and in doing it, he feels he is in his authentic self. Then, he
feels that time passes differently, he feels more alive, centered and vibrant!

I think this is very similar to
What Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described as The Flow.

Sir Ken Robinson says that the
Element is different for everyone and each one has to find it for himself. The
Element has 2 main features and 2 main conditions. The features are aptitude and passion. The
conditions are attitude and opportunity. Only when the 4 meet together, then
one can identify his element. Further, he defines a sequence
that goes like this - I get it (Aptitude) ; I love it (Passion) ; I want it
(Attitude) ; Where is it (Opportunity)? When all these are met in a particular
field of work or activity, one finds his element. He says to be in the Zone is
to be in the deep heart of the element.

One of the biggest impediment to
the Element is ‘What will people think’.
This is what stops people from going forward and pursuing their passion.
He talks about finding the tribe, or the people with similar interests is of
paramount importance to sustain and nurture the element. He goes on to describe
an important and very common factor among all people who have found their
element – Everyone had a mentor. A mentor can have any of the 4 roles – Mentor
brings recognition. Mentor brings encouragement. Mentor facilitates growth by
giving advice/tips. Mentor stretches and pushes the mentee beyond his limits. Again,
the author has substantiated each of these with examples and stories.

In the rest of the book, he
discusses if someone does it for money (as a professional) or for the love of
it (as an amateur). Again, he says, many people who have found their element have
taken it as their vocation. But he gives some examples of people who found
their element in their hobbies. They do not pursue it for their livelihood. He
states that such people are quite satisfied and also perform well in their day
jobs because they have an overall sense of fulfillment. And in some case, a
transformation happens, wherein an amateur becomes a professional.

Towards the end of the book, he
becomes quite pedantic as he describe what ails our education system and
various models. He discusses a Reggio School model which is interesting. His
main case is that the current education system which tries to compartmentalize
and standardize everything does not nurture creativity. It rather stifles the
same. At the end, he exhorts the readers to discover their own
element.

I liked the book very much. Apart
from the concepts that I have mentioned earlier, some new learning for me which
standout are 1) one can try to find one’s element by checking which activity or
field of work are the 2 features and 2 conditions satisfied, 2) find a tribe in
that field and 3) get oneself a mentor in that field. The numerous stories and anecdotes in the
book can keep you engaged and motivated. Overall it is a good read. I would
recommend it to you!

Face your Fears. And what could be more fearsome than some adventurous water sports for a person who does not know how to swim.

The planning started the night
before. I had seen a post in meetup from GHAC regarding a kayaking opportunity some time back. I wanted to experience it and the next day being a Saturday, I thought it could be the perfect way to spend my morning. I registered for the same, tossed a pair of shorts and T shirt into my backpack, set the alarm at 5:00AM and went to sleep early. In the morning, when the alarm
rang, I woke up and finished my morning routine. I had planned to start around 7:30
to reach the place by 8:00. But since there was an early morning errand that I
had to do, I started around 7:00. Finished the errand and was on my way to
Hussain Sagar.

Driving in a Saturday winter morning
in the long Christmas weekend at Hyderabad is sheer pleasure. The population in
this city comprises of many IT migrants. Thus, you can be sure that on a long
weekend, half of the city has gone out somewhere. This in fact is a boon to
those who stay back. On such a day, one can finally see how wide the roads in Hyderabad
are. There is no encroachment of roads by any vendors or pedestrians or stationary
vehicles. You can drive in peace in the top gear, without any noise or smoke in
your face. The cool weather is an added
bonus. For someone who is used to drive at 20kmph maximum speed in the city
traffic, a traffic free road is like sheer heaven.

The Hussain Sagar lake, an
artificial lake in the centre of Hyderabad was built in 1562. It is spread
across an area of 5.7 square kilometers and is fed by River Musi. There is a
beautiful boulevard called the necklace road that which connects NTR Gardens to
Sanjeevaiah Park. There are many public green spaces, beautiful lawns, parks,
restaurants and recreation facilities
and good views of the city of Hyderabad that line up along this boulevard.
These are some of the pride of Hyderabad.

My destination was Sanjeevaiah
park, which is one such parks dedicated to Damodaram Sanjivayya, a former Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh. I cruised along the necklace road
and reached my destination. After buying a morning walker ticket for Rs 5, I went
inside the park. Built on 92 acres (37 ha) along the banks of Hussain Sagar
lake, Sanjeevaiah park won the Best Open Landscape Award during the 2010 Indian
National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage award presentations.

At 8:00 in the morning, there was
an unusually sharp chillness in the air. There were few people going in and
coming out of the park. They were morning walkers and those who wanted to do
some exercise in the fresh air. The chirping of the birds could be heard all
over.

There is something serene and
peaceful about Old parks, that I love. I think parks are like wine. The older
they are, the more curated they are, the better they are. New parks somehow do
not have the grace and serenity of the old, well maintained ones. Sanjeevaiah park
is one such park that has a grace and charm of its own.

The first thing that strikes you
when you enter the park is the greenery. There are tall trees which line up the
walk way. Then there is a smooth coating of clean and uncluttered green grass
towards your side and beds of colorful flowers arranged neatly in the distance.
The morning sun was spreading its golden light all over the park and one could
feel the warming effect of the dappled light between trees against the chill
air. The early morning sun light rendered a bright yellow hue on the green
grass and the trees.

My thoughts went back to the
parks that I have seen in Australia and Europe. I felt really good that we have
such a beautiful park here in Hyderabad. And I was also ashamed that after having
spent almost 10 winters in Hyderabad, I had never visited this place earlier.

I walked further down crossing
morning walkers and joggers who were doing their constitutionals. I saw a tall
bearded young man who was doing head stands on the lawn. Some places in the
lawn, I could see white egrets, moving solo or in groups. They seemed to be feasting
on the insects in the grass. On my left, I could see the waters of the lake. In
fact, Sanjeevaiah park is like a small peninsula, a small land mass protruding
into the water body. I had to cross the park completely to come to the end
where my destination for the morning was.

Finally I came to a place where there
was a very broad iron gate. Behind the gate, was a large shipping container
painted green, with some posters and pictures pasted on its wall. It announced –
‘The Yacht Club of Hyderabad’.

I went inside the gate and to the
front of the container and then discovered that the container was in fact a
make shift locker room. A narrow strip of land extended in front of it, all the
way till a small concrete watch tower. There were yachts and boats of various
shapes that were stacked on the strip. I could get a great view of the Hussain
Sagar lake from there. Many water birds were peacefully floating in the water.
There was a strong breeze and the atmosphere was very serene. There were some folks
kayaking and some other milling around. I was anticipating a good experience!

Further down the strip, there
were 2 men who were seated on white plastic chairs. They had a white plastic
table in front of them with some papers on it. I checked in with them. They already
had my details from the payment gateway where I had made the advance payment. I
paid the rest of the amount. They gave me an instruction and disclaimer sheet
to read and sign. They asked me if I was a swimmer or non-swimmer and gave me a
red hand band as a non-swimmer to put on and a food token.

They told the locker room is
behind and asked me to change into shorts and remove my shoes. Back in the
locker room, I stashed my phone, wallet, car keys, bag, changed into shorts and
walked back near the jetty.

There was an instructor who
helped me put on the safety life jacket. You have to wear it as a normal jacket
and zip it in front. There is a thigh and a chest strap which has to be
fastened. It was very tight initially, but then he helped me loosen it and make
it a comfortable fit. I learnt that the jacket can support weight up to 130 Kg.
It seemed to be filled with some light material like foam which increased the
volume. I felt bulked up. This I guess works on the Archimedes principle displacing
more weight of water than its own weight, thus keeping it floating.

Having worn the jacket, we were
instructed on the various parts of the paddle and the kayak. I do not remember
all the names. But the critical thing was that there is a mark in the paddle
which you have to have in your right hand. They told us how to hold it and how
to paddle, how to maneuver, etc.

Then, we were told how to sit in
the kayak. They were long triyaks, meaning it could hold 3 people. Each of them
had a coach and 2 other learners. The coach sat in the back. I was supposed to
sit in the middle. It was a bit of an experience getting into the Kayak. The
kayak was bit unstable in the water and once you put your feet, it felt as if
it would topple. So, one has to be a bit
careful while going in. The instructor help people get in. Since I sat in the
front in my next round, I felt that sitting in the front is a bit more
comfortable than in the back. There is more leg space in front. In the back,
you have to keep the legs raised high on the sides of the front rower. This
makes it an uncomfortable position for the uninitiated.

Once you sit comfortably, they
will hand you the paddles. The coach sitting at the back will shout commands,
left, left, left, right, left, right. This means you have to paddle on that
side. It is very important to synchronize between the three. So basically, the
first rower has to be followed. Again, if you sit in the front, it is easier as
you don’t have to follow anyone but others follow you. While sitting in the middle, I
was time and again told by my coach that I was not following the first. Since
we had to paddle hard, I did not have time to look at the expanse of the lake. I
was focusing on the paddles. Though I had some fear before going into it, I didn’t
actually felt nervous.

Anyways, we went to a blue mark
in the lake about 125 meters from the jetty. There he told us how to turn
around. If you have to turn right, you have to paddle on the left only and vice
versa. Again, we paddled hard and came back towards the jetty. My thighs
started becoming sore by being in the uncomfortable position. My partner was
very enthused and wanted to go for another round. I also agreed and we went for
the second round. By the time we returned back to the jetty, I was tired! More
than that, I was feeling very thirsty. I must have been in water for a maximum
of 20 minutes by then.

So, I alighted and took rest.

Suddenly, I saw another person
coming towards me fully drenched. Upon inquiring, I found that their kayak
capsized and he was rescued.

I took some rest, had water and
again went in to another kayak. This time I choose to sit in front. It was
quite comfortable. In fact, while sitting in middle I thought the person at
front will have to see the entire lake and that would be scary. But it was
actually not so. We kayaked for some distance and then I felt my partner who
was perched in the middle not paddling. I asked him what happened. He said back
pain and he gave up. So, I and the coach, both of us paddled back to the
jetty.

I enjoyed while paddling this
time. I had learnt the trick. I knew that you have to put the whole paddle inside
the water and pull it with all your strength, left side and then right side. It
was great to move in the water like this. The water was splashing and wet my
legs and some on my face. But that was ok.

Back at the jetty, the breakfast
was ready. Hot idli, chutney and sambhar were served to all. After all the hard
work, it was delicious. It was around 9:30 and being hungry since morning, I
could have had much more than the 4 pieces that were served. That followed by a
cup of tea.

I met Suheim Sheikh, the founder
of the Yacht club. He explained all the activities that they do there including
supporting under privileged children learn sailing. There were many sailing and
kayaking course that they offered. He said that this was an expensive sport but
it is a rewarding one. And as per him, Hyderabad yacht club is one of the best
in the country.

Post the breakfast and chitchat,
there was to be a kayak race. I was hesitating to take part. But the in the
last moment, I joined. There were 16 participants and we made teams of 4. Our
team was led by Gautam, a boy of about 11 or 12 who was one of the coach. The
first pair from our team went in. They came back first. Then I and another guy
went in. Again I was in the middle as he went in first. We started strong. Gautam
was prodding us to go faster and faster. Somewhere something happened and in
the next moment, the kayak capsized. I could not understand what went wrong. Suddenly,
I found myself in the cold water. I went face down. But the life jacket helped
me stay afloat. I did not panic. That was the first instruction that was given
to us earlier. Then I tried to roll myself up to face upwards. I saw all the 3
of us in water. The coach asked me to hold the kayak that was toppled over. By
that time, the rescue guys had spotted us and within minutes they arrived near
us. First they lifted up my partner. Then someone asked my specs and I gave it
to him. They asked me to move to the side of the rescue boat. Then they held me
by the jacket and pulled me out of the water on to the boat. It was over in
matter of minutes. I was shivering in
the cold. They asked me if I had drank any water and I replied in negative. The
rescue boat took us safely to the jetty where we alighted. Having fallen down from the kayak and being rescued from the water, I completed the full experience of kayaking!

Then there was a sailing offer
using sail boats. Though I wanted to try that, I was not carrying enough money.
Anyways, it had already been a marvelous experience and I did not want an
overload of adventure for one day. It was great fun and exercise. This will
remain as a good memory with me. I would recommend you all to spend at least one of your weekend morning trying this out. You will feel refreshed, energetic and earn some bragging rights!

25th December,
Christmas, was on a Friday. So, it was a long weekend and I did not have any
plans as such. The previous evening, while browsing on meetup site, I found an
interesting event. There was a meet up for bird watching and trail walking at Himayat
Sagar on the morning of 25th .

Now, I am an arm chair bird
watcher. Now, I do not have a camera (not even a basic point and shoot) nor a
binocular or a bird book. So, I am not qualified to be called a bird watcher at
all. And with my poor eyesight, it is really difficult to identify details on
the birds. Hence, arm-chair bird watching is what suits me! I like to do
facebook birding! I subscribe to some facebook groups and pages which feed me
information on various types of birds, their habitat, their food habits etc. In
fact, thanks to facebook groups, over the last few months, I have been able to
identify different types of Kingfishers – Common, Pied, White breasted, etc,
came to know that there is a bird called Wag-tail and that they are abundantly
found in Hyderabad, in fact in our office campus itself, and that there are
various types of wagtail, various types of Babblers, various types of Pipit, Hawk,
Cuckoo, Myna, Heron, Owl, Plover etc. While my knowledge of birds has increased
only a little, it has definitely increased my curiosity to know and understand
more about birds. But due to lethargy, I was never inclined to go for an actual
birding. But, when this opportunity presented itself, I thought it would be a
great idea to go along with some folks who know about birds and learn from
them.

This meetup was being organized
by GJ. She is an active member of GHAC. Over the meetup site, she told us to
assemble on time. We were supposed to meet at Gachibowli circle by 6:00. The
previous night, I set the alarm at 5:00 am. Woke up in the morning and, got
ready to start to the common meeting place by 5:30am.

By the time I reached there, it
was still dark. The sun was rising around 6:20 or so during that week. I found
a car parked and 3 more people waiting. I parked my car and went to them.
Suddenly, one of the guys, asked me GHAC? I said, “Yes, How do you know?”. He
said “From your shoes. I am Sayyad”. I introduced myself. There was GJ who was
the organizer.

She gave me a disclaimer form to
read, sign and pay the nominal meetup fee of Rs 50. Then few more people joined
us. By 6:30, it was a group of about 7 people. GJ asked for a volunteer to
collect the fees. I accepted. She gave me a bunch of papers. One which is a
disclaimer and another to note down details of the payment. I collected the
fees from the people who were joining. By 6:45, we decided that we should move.
I did not know the direction. So, I decided to follow GJ’s car.

Himayat Sagar is an artificial
lake about 20 km from Hyderabad. After the massive flood in Musi river in 1908,
the Nizam of Hyderabad initiated a comprehensive program to control flood. As
part of that program, a reservoir was created on Esi river, a tributary of Musi
River. This was supposed to help in flood control. It was built in the reign of
Nizam Osman Ali Khan and was named after his youngest son, Himayat Ali Khan.

In just about 15 minutes, we reached
the reservoir entrance. We parked our cars there. There were few other folks
who also joined us at the gate. I got back to the task of reading out the disclaimer
to the new folks, jotting down their details, getting their signatures and
collecting the fees. Then GJ asked all of us to stand in a circle and give our introduction.
There were few students, few young IT professionals, and there were 2 families.
There were a young family of 4 (Father, mother, son and daughter) and another elderly
family of 4 (Father, mother, daughter and son-in-law). There were about 20
people in total in the meetup.

Then GJ informed that people who
are interested in bird watching can stay back with her and others who wanted to
go for a peaceful morning jog can run along the road built on the dam till the
end just and come back. Some folks went for the run. The families, myself and
GJ stayed back for birdwatching. It was a long paved road. After covering
a short distance, we could see the water reservoir on one side. On the other
side of the dam, there was a small green forest area. Lots of trees and shrubs
were there. It seemed to be a place for many birds as we could hear their
morning chirping.

It was a very beautiful, cool and calm day.
There was a good amount of chill in the air. some cyclists with their modern
cycles and cycling gear crossed us. As we walked along the road on
the dam, we first saw few parrots. They were rose ringed parrots. GJ took out a
binocular from her bag and adjusted it. Then she passed it to others to have a
look. The parrots were beautiful.

There was a huge kite that flew
on top of us. It hovered for some time, surveyed our group like a boss, and then
went away, probably realizing that we were not good enough for breakfast!

There were many babblers and some
pea cock in the jungle. The peacocks were in some distance. But the babblers were
very playful and kept coming closer, making a lot of noise, crossing from the
jungle area towards the road and going back, jumping from tree to tree.

We reached a small gate on the
road. Entering the gate, we found ourselves on the top of the sluice gates of
the reservoir. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding
in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway. Sluice gates commonly
control water levels and flow rates in rivers and canals. Though the water in
the reservoir was in some distance, in the earlier days, when the reservoir
used to overflow with water, the sluice gates would be opened to let water out
of the reservoir.

The opposite side of the sluice
gates was a very deep gorge formed by the rushing water. The bed of the gorge
was filled with big and small rocks. It looked beautiful. But there was no
water there. It seemed the sluice gates were not opened for years.

We saw many other types of birds
there. Some of the folks were taking pictures. In the reservoir, we saw couple
of birds. They were sitting on some rocks and then one just glided into the
water. GJ trained her binoculars on them and then passed them to us. We took
turns one by one. Then she pulled out a much used book from her bag. It was the
book of Indian birds by Dr Salim Ali, the famous ornithologist. The book helped
us identify the different birds. The black birds in the water were Cormorants. The
cormorants have a very smooth way of swimming. They go completely inside the
water and come out after a few meters. They fish for their food inside the
water. On the rocks, we spotted some Cattle Egret and Grey Heron.

Then there was a flock some black
birds that were flying very fast. The folks who were trying to take their
pictures were not able to as they could not catch them in the frame. They
seemed to be like swift or swallows or sand martins to me. GJ immediately pulled
out the bird book and asked me to identify. Looking at their features and reading
the book, I concluded that they were Red Rumped Swallows. There were a colony
of them nesting in the jungle and they were flying all around. It was a great
sight to see.

By that time, the guys who went
for the walk were back. GJ announced that we will go down, not into the gorge,
but in a path beside it towards the plain land below where there were some big
rocks. But before going there, she again made us form a circle, made us do some
warm up exercises and gave some instructions. Then we started going down the
trail.

It was a very easy trail. There
were some trees beside the path. I spotted a sunbird there. Shortly, we went
through the jungle patch to come out in a plain area where there were lots of
rocks. The group, especially the children wanted to sit there. The young folks
started taking out their cameras and posed for pictures. The families took out
breakfast/snacks and had them. I kept exploring the place, jumping from one
rock to another to another. It was a good fun workout.

I went even further and found a rock
in the shape of a dinosaur. There were plenty of Gree Bee Eaters there. I had
not seen a Green Bee Eater in real life earlier. This was the first time I saw
them. It was wonderful. I could also spot a Black Drongo also perched on a
tree. I was amazed by my bird spotting knowledge just by doing facebook
birding!

Coming back to where our group
was perched, I gave the news to GJ and we all started to go there and see the
birds. The children and the group also spent more time on the dinosaur rock.
Some music was floating in the air, probably from some nearby hamlet.

We spotted some more birds like
the white throated kingfisher, myna, starling, white brow wagtail and cuckoo. It was almost 9:00 am and time for us to
return back.

We traced our ways back and
reached the dam road. Then thanked GJ. GJ invited me to join other short trips
and treks. All of the folks bade good bye to each other and left.

I really enjoyed the short trip.
It was a pleasant break from the daily grind of city and work life. One feels
closer to nature and does not want to come back. This trip also made me bit sad
by seeing the litter and garbage that had been thrown around the reservoir. And
also looking at the receding water level of the reservoir, or the dry bed of
the water outlet which one day used to be a river! But there is a ray of hope.
There are like minded people who are joining hands to help preserve the serenity
of nature!

The Society to Save Rocks conducts Rock Walks every 3rd Sunday of the month. On 20th
of December, a Rock walk was planned near PBEL City. Since I knew about their
activities having participated in an earlier event, Run for Rocks, I was
interested to go this time. Moreover, I wanted to take Sara with me as I
thought she would enjoy nature.

That Sunday, by the time our brunch
was over, it was quite past 3:00PM. I asked wifey if she would like to go for
the Rock walk that I was planning to join. Surprisingly she agreed. It was kind
of strange for me because she does not like these outings. But since I was very
much interested she obliged to accompany me. Sara on the other hand vehemently
opposed the idea of going anywhere except home. However, I persisted and drove
towards PBEL city.

It being a Sunday, roads were
empty. By the time we hit the ORR, Sara and her mom were fast asleep. By 4:15 we
reached PBEL city. I looked around and could not find anyone anywhere in the
vicinity that could give me the rock walk impression. We took a short spin and
came back again. By that time, I saw a lady with some children getting down
from a car in front of PBEL city. I parked my car, went to her and asked if she
was there for the rock walk. She said yes and handed me a sheet of paper to
write my name and details. Then she also handed some other flyers about Save
the Rock Society. By that time, others were trickling in.

I came back to my car and asked the
mom and daughter duo if they want to go. They said no. I persisted and asked
them to come for whatever distance. Grudgingly they agreed. I promised to carry
Sara if she would not walk at any point in time.

By that time, around 30 people
had gathered. There were some folks from the PBEL city who knew the area well,
Some folks from Save the Rock Society and some children from PBEL city and some
kids from Kendriya Vidyalaya who were accompanied by their teacher. We walked
towards a hill. It seemed like a plotted layout with tar roads. After some
distance, we assembled for a group photograph. Frauke, the organizer, the same
lady with whom I spoke first, told us some do’s and don’t and guidelines. There
were 2 other folks who also guided us on the direction and what to do if we get
lost.

Then the group started walking.
Seeing so many children in the group, Sara was quite excited. She was the
smallest among them. So, she was walking slowly and the three of us were
trailing behind the larger group. The group went to a big rock and some of the
boys started climbing. Sara was fascinated by that. But by the time we reached
there, we were asked to move forward.

Going a bit further, we left the
plotted layouts and tar road behind us. There was a kuchha road. It was narrow
and went up and down dangerously. There were some shrubs and thorny trees.
Ducking them we pressed ahead and soon reached a place where we had to climb
some rocks and came up to a very flat rock. The children started running
helter-skelter there. They wanted to climb the bigger rocks. Looking at them
Sara also said she wants to go to the bigger rocks. Knowing that she cannot
climb on her own, I decided to climb the rock along with her.

Path to the big rock on the top
was very narrow and one had to traverse several small rocks carefully, jump
over big gaps and crevices between rocks , squeeze through a gap between two
rocks and finally climb the large rock to come to the top. There were others
who lent a helping hand to pull me up and to carry Sara. Finally both of us
reached there. Sara was very happy.

Looking at both Papa and daughter
on the top of the rock, mama could not stay behind. She also climbed the rocks
and joined us. Coming down was bit difficult than climbing up. It is because
here you haveto balance yourself from slipping and falling forward. But with
help of others, we all climbed down safely.

The group started moving forward.
We crossed the rocky patch and were told that there used to be a small lake nearby.
Due to lack of rains, it may have dried out completely. We can go and see if there
is any water. So, we marched ahead.

It was around 5:00PM then. The
sun was beginning to go down. The yellow rays of the sun washed the rocky
landscape and gave it a yellowish tint. There were dried shrubs, bushes, grass
lands and thorny trees all around. We had to be careful to hold the twigs and
sticks from the trees that were on the path. There were many thorns and grass burr
that stuck to our clothes. Grass or cockle burr, are plant seeds (fruit), that
are covered with stiff and sticky spines, designed to hang on to animals to
spread the seeds far and wide. I had a tough time pulling them out later!

I told Sara that this was a
jungle and she was not willing to accept. She said there are rocks everywhere.
Where were the aminals. I told her that animals will come in the night. She
told rocks are not living. Someone from the Save the Rock society was nearby
and told her that rocks also grow very slowly. But unlike trees, which grow
fast and we can plant them, rocks do not grow fast and we cannot create new
rocks. So, we should save the rocks!

Going ahead, we came across some more
rock formations. One of them were like a crocodile face. It was called the
crocodile rock. We took some pictures there. Then we walked further and could
see the lake bed. On the way, we found a baya weaver’s nest. We were told that
there was a colony of baya weavers who have build their next on a tree. The male
baya weaver painstakingly builds beautiful and complex nests out of fibre. It
hangs from a tree. The female would visit all nests build by males and choose
the best nest to pair up with the male. Later, we saw the birds’ nest hanging
from the trees.

The other children were
collecting various types of feathers that they were getting on the way. Among
the different feathers, I could identify peacock and hawk feathers. Sara was
getting edgy as she could not find any feather while other children were
finding them. Then suddenly someone found a porcupine quill. Sara wanted to
have that. Since she was the smallest, the girl handed it to her. Proudly she
marched ahead with the porcupine quill. Then other children found more quills.
She also joined them in the search. I had to drag her out of that party.

We went to the bed of the lake
which had completely dried up. Sara was afraid to go there as the earth was
dried and cracked. She was afraid that she might fall. But once I walked there,
she also followed me.

As it was getting darker, we had
to come back quickly. Back at the place where our cars
were parked, the group had assembled. Frauke and her team passed some water,
tea and biscuits. Then they were offering some books and memorabilia on rocks to
buy. It was time for us to move.

The trip was quite enjoyable. It made me go back to my childhood when we used to go on such hikes and trail walks into the jungles or hillocks near our town. It refreshed those memories and brought me closer to nature. Sara also enjoyed the trip a lot. It was an evening well spent!

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You: "Well...Sorry, I could'nt get it. Can you please tell that again?"

Me: Never mind! To cut a long name short, I am Braja. Trust that is better. I live in Hyderabad, India with my wife and daughter. I am passionate about reading, writing, running and lately toastmastering... I blog about general musings and random thoughts. I try to live my life well, with lots of love and laugh, learning small new things everyday and finally leave the world a little better.

In another avatar, I work with Capgemini. You can find my professional credentials here.